Russia urges Japan to stop radioactive dumping into Pacific

April 9, 2011 2:01 am

MOSCOW, April 8 — Russia hopes that Japan will disclose full information about the situation at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant and will stop dumping radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

"We hope that our Japanese partners will provide all interested parties with complete information about the radiation situation in the area around the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and will take measures to prevent further discharge of radioactive water into the ocean," the ministry statement said.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the Fukushima Daiichi operator, began releasing around 11,500 tons of low-level radioactive water into the ocean on Monday. The company said it regretted the move but that was the only way to deal with the problem.

The ministry said Russia appreciates the fact that the dumping was a "forced measure, designed to prevent a more serious threat," and that it hopes this will not harm human health or the environment.

Russia is continuously monitoring radiation levels near its shores and so far they are within the norm, it added.

TEPCO has been working to stop highly radioactive water from leaking into the sea and cleaning up contaminated water within the plant.

The Japanese government is reviewing the radiation exposure level currently used to designate the evacuation zone around Fukushima.

Shortly after the March 11 earthquake started the nuclear accident, the government ordered the evacuation of residents within a 20-kilometer radius of the nuclear plant and advised those in the 20-30 km zone to leave the area or stay indoors.

More than 12,340 people are known to have died in the quake and subsequent tsunami, while nearly 15,350 remain unaccounted for. (PNA/RIA Novosti) scs/rsm